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Christian nation?

Is the US a Christian nation? If you surveyed church goers, most would say that we are a majority Christian nation. However, there are millions of Americans who profess another faith or no faith at all. I think that we can gauge how Christian a nation we are by how we treat non-Christians. The US Constitution, under the first amendment, specifies that there will be no established, state sponsored, religion. The oath of allegiance and our currency contain “under God“, but do not specify whose God, the Christian God or another religion’s. Part of our current problems in the US, IMHO, is that one party, the GOP, wants to take back the country. By that they mean take back the country to a time when minorities knew their place, there were fewer people of color, one bread-winner in a family was sufficient and when there were fewer members of other religions within the US.

2 thoughts on “Christian nation?”

I would like to reply to your comment. However, prior to this, I feel it important to understand one concept. If we are to engage in a scholarly debate about the status of America as a “Christian Nation” we must have a valid understanding of the connotations that term bears. For this, I have found an outstanding resource and I will borrow from it various terms and concepts. Thus, I want to attribute proper credit to its author, Dr. Wayne Grudem.

In his book, Politics According to the Bible, Dr. Grudem illustrates that there are numerous understanding regarding what the term “Christian Nation” implies. As such I must ask you for further clarification.

I must know are you referring to the term “Christian Nation,” through guise of the construct of this Nation? Are you looking to deny the fact that this Nation was set forth on Christian principles? Are you contending that the Founding Fathers were free of their Christian principles as they progressed in their attempt to forge this Nation based upon their Christian ideals?

Is it your intention to argue that Congress refrained from expressing a desire to affirm the Christian ideals? These ideals, which permeated throughout the newly allied states as they coalesced into a Nation from conception to implementation?

Or, by “Christian Nation” are you referring to the current composition of the American religious populous? I understand that at the current moment there is an estimated 18-42% of Bible-believing, evangelical, born again Christians in this country (note this does not include the Catholic faith).

Therefore, prior to further engaging you in this discussion, I want to ensure how you define, “Christian Nation.” After we have reached a mutual foundational understanding then we shall begin our discussion.

I realize that most of the Founding Fathers were Christians and followed ideas that they collected from a variety of sources, including but not limited to the Bible. In my post, I am referring to the present conduct of our governments and their citizens to other citizens. Do we treat each other as good Christians should or do we not. I believe that we do not.